The present invention relates to a manual lever mounted beside a driver's seat in a vehicle and pivoted forward and backward by the hand of the driver who is seated in the driver's seat.
In some automobiles the parking brake lever is mounted in a space left between the driver's seat and the front passenger seat, and usually in this case in a console box mounted between the driver's seat and the front passenger seat.
Conventionally such a central lever is mounted so as to pivot in a plane which is vertical and extends along the longitudinal axis of the vehicle, as illustrated in FIG. 1, which shows a parking brake lever formed as a central lever mounted in a console box as viewed from the back of the lever and of the driver's seat. In this case the line which connects the pivot point of the lever and the pivot point of the driver's arm, which essentially is his shoulder, makes a relatively large angle such as .alpha. relative to the plane of pivotal movement of the lever. This angle of divergence is not desirable for the best operation of the lever from an ergonomic standpoint.
Furthermore, in the conventional structure of a central lever having a plane of pivotal movement which is vertical and extends along the longitudinal axis of the vehicle, the line of the force exerted by the driver for operating the lever is oblique to the direction of movement of the point at which the force is exerted by a relatively large angle such as .beta. when viewed from above, as shown in FIG. 2. This angle of deviation is also not desirable for the best operation of the lever from an ergonomic standpoint.